Chapter IV: My Mission, If I Choose To Accept It

Simon must decide whether he will accept his task or reject it.

I didn’t want to tell Jean because she’d already infuriated me but...she was right. If I was some powerful, sky-god-chosen hero, why couldn’t I just save Kelly? Why couldn’t I just fly up to her and take her back? I looked around and didn’t recognize anything. We were in a clearing of the woods. Trees surrounded us circularly. Next to the white Nissan was the Dodge Ram and in the distance, Mom and Mr. Agnar were stoking a fire. In the horizon, the sun was setting, turning the sky into a haze of purple and red. I wondered where Kane was, but I heard a blowtorch and clanking coming from behind the truck. “Where the heck are we?” I managed to say that.

“The dream, Si!” Dylan grabbed my shoulders.

I backed away from him, remembering I was angry and said. “Yeah, I’ll tell you.” I grumbled. I drudgingly explained my dream to both of them. Including Capital G, how Asmias looked, the stuff I learned, his palace, etcetera. When I was done they both stared at me. “Did he say anything about the contract?” Jean asked.

That made me even angrier. After all that’s happened to me...that’s all you ask? After I explained the dream? No Whoa, Si, that’s incredible! or Hey, this is a good sign. You just skip over all that and ask about a contract that I don’t even know about? I don’t know why this made me so mad, but I responded to Jean with, “Yeah, he told me to stuff it up your-...”

Before I could finish, Jean stepped towards me and shoved me, her green as glowing once more with hatred. But something was different. She looked drained. A little weaker. She still looked like she could kick my butt to to the other side of the woods, but I held my ground. My eyes glowed blue and I could tell she was taken back a bit, but she she positioned her hands over each other as if I was supposed to be scared of that. The sky worked in my favor. Small clouds formed above me as I readied myself to fight. Then it occurred to me: Dude! You can’t hit girls! No matter how angry you are! Come on man, that’s low! Thank all the deities I didn’t go through with fighting her.

Dylan  stood between us, “Chill out!” He yelled, facing me. “Both of you!” He looked to Jean. She stood down, her eyes going back to the normal green color. She looked even more drained. I felt my eyes change back to amber and the clouds dissipated. Thunder rolled in the distance. I like to think it was Asmias, proud that I didn’t fight Jean. Maybe it was just the weather. Jean grumbled and walked and stormed off to the truck and I was left with Dylan. “She’s not used to new guys”, Dylan said, “Trust me, she-...”

“Save it.” I glared at him. I didn’t care about Jean. And at the moment I didn’t care for Dylan. I really wanted to be mad at him. I wanted to tell him how mad I was. I wanted to yell at him for not telling me anything.

But he’s your best friend, the good side reasoned.

Uh...and he held out that he’s a the son of a goddess, My bad side bit back.

But he did it for your own good. That’s a big secret to bear. My good side was winning this one.

Don’t play that! “For your own good!” What a load of crap!

You know, this is why no one hangs out with you when you’re in a bad mood.

“Shut up.” I grumbled. I noticed Dylan was staring at me.

“Um, Si?” He asked. I could hear the concern in his voice. The good side of me liked that Dylan was concerned. But I forced myself to be angry. I put on my best scowl. “What?” I said bitterly.

It worked to well, because he stepped back like he was scared. “N-nothing. Just wondering if you’re okay.”

I tried to seem angrier and overstepped the friendship boundary. “And next time something evil tries to kidnap Kelly...don’t help me.”

Dylan balled his fists and bit his bottom lip. This was the you-cut-me-deep-dude body language. It’d only happened one other time in fourth grade when we first met and I made fun of him. Okay...don’t judge me. I still feel bad about fourth grade and this. He didn’t meet my gaze. He looked down and I could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. Instantly I felt a lump in my chest. Dylan was the nicest guy you could ever meet and what’d I do? I just made him feel utterly awful about something he couldn’t control. Still looking, he nodded and said in a shaky voice,”O-...Okay, Si.”

I started to say something, but he walked away to the truck. Now all I had to do was burn my bridges with Kane and Mr. Agnar and I’d be all set! I turned to see in the middle of the clearing, Mom and Mr. Agnar staring at me. Behind them was an orange, crackling fire. My mom did that awkward, crooked smile to let me know that, Everything will be okay, dear. I believe in you. Mr. Agnar gave me a sympathetic look. As if he knew how I felt. I plodded towards them, looking anywhere, but their direction. Why is it that when you feel sad, you can’t make direct eye contact without getting all emotional and stuff?

I reached Mom and she wrapped me up with one of those rib-shattering, organ-squishing, breath-taking (not in a good way, dude) hugs. “You’re awake! Oh, thank goodness!”

“Mom!” I rasped. “The ribs!”

She let go of me. “Oh, dear! Sorry!” She laughed nervously. “Guess I don’t know my own strength!”

My vision restored and I saw her hazel eyes filled with so many emotions. Guilt, fear, happiness (from me being awake), and so much more.

“I uh...had a dream...about Asmias.”

Mr. Agnar turned to me, listening intently. He nodded his head, telling me to go on. I told them what happened and what Asmias said. I even included how young he looked.

“And the contract?” Mr. Agnar asked.

I swear if one more person asks me about a contract, I thought. “He didn’t say where it was. Only...sort of that...he didn’t want me to do it. But he wanted me to at the same time.”

For a second, Mr. Agnar looked as confused as I was. Then he nodded. He turned to Mom. I..ah...would like a private word with your son, Ms. Hale. If that is alright.” He said.

She nodded and smiled at me. Mr. Agnar took me to the edge of the woods and we began to walk. Sort of in a circle.

“Simon, do you know why those Drauci attacked your school?” Mr. Agnar said.

I thought really hard on that and came up with a pretty smart answer. “Because they didn’t agree with school lunches?”

Mr. Agnar sort of chuckled and sighed at the same time. It was an odd mixture of Oh, this boy is hilarious! and Well, he’s a lost cause. “No, my boy. Not because of your lunches. It’s because you’re a powerful weapon.”

I stared at him. “Weapon?”

“I don’t suppose you know the story of one of Asmias’s most famous chosen? Euthysteus Cathastak?”

I shook my head. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Euthysteus Cathastak was a hero from the ancient times. In the ancient world of the gods. He was respected and known for his missions for the major gods. Later on in his heroic career...something...tragic happened.” Mr. Agnar paused for a moment. As if he knew this Euthy-whatever guy really well.

“What happened?” I pryed.

“His wife was taken from him, to Xenatus. The world within the Underworld. A land of monsters and torture.”

I’d already seen images of Xenatus. Definitely not on my list of places to vacate.

Mr. Agnar continued. “Euthysteus was knew his destiny to be cast to Xenatus. But he avoided destiny. He set out on a ten year quest, traveling the world. He did missions he wasn’t very proud of and got his companions killed. Sometimes by accident...others...for the sake of the quest.” Mr. Agnars eyes told that maybe he wasn’t in his fifties. In a world where there’s gods and flying cloud-monsters, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Agnar wasn’t a bajillion years old. He continued the story, “The gods grew sick of his quest and devised a plan. Vulentes, the god of the Underworld, created a contract that bound Euthysteus’s soul to him. For any use, whatsoever.”

“Did he sign it?”

Mr. Agnar nodded. “He signed it with his own blood.”

“But why is it the Contract of Dead Souls?”

“The contract’s history goes further than Euthysteus. It is called the Contract of Dead Souls because of Vulentes’s trickery. In the torment of the Underworld, he offered more damned souls to sign the contract, to do an evil deed. Their spirit would be free to do the deed. But their soul would forever cast to Xenatus.”

“Aren’t spirits and souls the same thing?” I blurted out.

“A common misconception, my boy. A soul...it is important to you. Your own identity. Without it, you’d be lifeless and plain. The spirit is what binds the soul to your body. What allows it to be free. Without your spirit...well that’s a controversial topic. Actually the whole subject is quite debatable and controversial.” He smiled as if he’d like debating the subject of dead souls or whatever.

“Mr. Agnar...why’re you telling me this?”

“Every chosen of a god is related by supernatural blood.”

Good to know. I thought, It’s a deal breaker if I’m related to the girl I like.

“You are in relation to Euthysteus. Your quest is to save a loved one...possibly from Xenatus.”

That sent a chill down my spine. The thought of Kelly in that place was unbearable. You’ll get her back. I told myself. Don’t worry.

“Simon, it is important that you stay away from the Underworld on this task. Vulentes is dangerous to heroes.”

Heroes? I thought. Oh no. I wasn’t getting lumped into that category. Suddenly weight fell on my shoulders when I heard him say heroes. “Mr. Agnar”, I said. “I’m not a hero. Just a guy who wants his sister back.

He smiled at me. A warm smile. But it had a look that said, You’ll learn soon enough.

***

We sat around the campfire in silence, eating sandwiches. The tension was pretty thick. I guess Jean was still pissed. She looked a little stronger, her green eyes were still normal. She didn’t even look down to eat her food. She lifted it to her face to continue her death-stare. It made me uncomfortable, but I didn’t really care. She was the least of my concerns. I broke the silence. “How do I find the contract?”

Dylan choked a little. “You haven’t even accepted-...”

Jean rolled her eyes and cut him off, “No one knows, duh!”

Mr. Agnar stepped in. “Now, now, Jean. Simon is a newcomer to his own world.”

She grumbled and went back to eating and glaring. I thought about what Dylan said. Accepted what? Accepted that I’ll probably die? That Kelly’s gone for good? My goodness, I’m cynical. I thought.

My mom spoke up. “No one knows...technically, Simon. Some say it’s locked away in the old world. Others say it’s deep within Xenatus. Heck, even Vulentes still has it.”

I stared at her. “How do you know all of that?” Then it hit me. My mom did keep a sword and a hand-cannon in a trunk in our apartment. She knew all about this stuff. That meant that I was the only one who was new to this. That made feel...sort of alone. I was isolated in ignorance and everyone else was like, Psssh! You don’t know this stuff? Come on, Si! It was like being close friends with two teachers (and like three other teachers befriend those teachers just to make me feel dumb). That made me shudder. “Awesome.” I sighed. I didn’t feel hungry anymore.

I looked at her. “Did dad...know about this?”

She nodded, sadly. As if this was a secret she didn’t want to tell, “It’s how we met.”

I was dumbfounded. Mom always said that they met on a plane, after she spilled a drink in his lap. I didn’t make a big scene about it. All I said was, “Oh.”

Mr. Agnar cleared his throat. “Simon. I think it’s time.”

My mom nodded. Dylan nodded. Kane nodded and reluctantly, so did Jean. “Time for what?” I asked. Clean up time? I asked myself.

“For you to accept this task. You can either accept or decline. Y-...”

“I accept it.”  I cut him off.

“But...you do not know the hardships-...”

“I accept the task. If it means I’m bringing Kelly back.”

“This...is not usually how the tradition goes...” He sighed and looked up. Lightning struck without sound then. Then another strike, with a small sound of thunder. It started happening quicker, all around us. Lightning was striking and thunder was getting louder.  Lightning struck all around the woods until it was like we were in some sort of dance club with light flashing all around us and the sound of thunder so loud, it made the ground rumble.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. “That’s a sign.” Mr. Agnar said. “You will lead this task.”

“Lead?” I asked. “Wait. Back up. People can come with me?”

“Yes. And I have selected them already.” Mr. Agnar was starting to seem like one of those annoying teachers who selects you to do stuff you don’t want to do with people you don’t want to do it with. “ Dylan Penman.”

Dylan stood up. He still wouldn’t look at me. That just made me feel worse. Then I glanced over at Jean, who was still glaring at me. Anyone but Jean! anyone but Jean! Anyone but Jean! Mr. Agnar called the next name, “Jean Aldaine.”

And just like that, I knew I’d been screwed over...probably by a god. “Stand up, idiot.” Jean hissed at me. I stood up, hoping the fire would mask my red cheeks. The flames began to glue blue and I knew that this was a good sign for everyone but me. “Simon Hale, Dylan Penman, and Jean Aldaine”, Mr. Agnar said, “will embark on this quest to recover the Contract of Dead Souls. May the gods be with them.” He said that like, May God have mercy on your soul.

“You can’t expect a bunch of thirteen year olds to do this!”

Kane looked at me sympathetically, as if to say, Dude, I’m sorry. I wanted Kane to be in this with me. He seemed a lot cooler than Jean. And if we ever got into a bad situation, he could just blow something up. “Why can’t Kane come?” I blurted out (tongue twister). ]

“Scared of girls?” Jean smirked.

“No, I just wouldn’t you to chip a nail.” I said with the apathy of a thousand cynics.

She growled. “You know what?” Her hands started to glow with two weird symbols. In the space between air and her palms, balls of flame erupted.

My eyes glowed blue. “What’re you gonna do, magic girl? Put my in a top hit?”

Mr. Agnar shouted so loud, his voice echoed.  “Excuse me!” My eyes went back to normal. Rachel’s hands dimmed until they were regular again. Mr. Agnar sighed. “Kane is working on a job, himself.” He looked at me and Rachel sternly, “If you two are to go on this journey, then you must get along.” He thought for a moment and said a word that made me want to retch. “Hug.”

“What?!” Rachel and I exclaimed.

That was something my mom made me and Kelly do when we argued when we were smaller. “Hug it out.” Mr. Agnar smiled.

“You have to be kidding me.” Rachel huffed.

We walked around the fire and stood face to face with each other. “Well?” I said.

She held out her arms. I stepped closer and we wrapped our arms around each other. “Ugh, I wanna gag”, She groaned.

“Please, you don’t exactly smell like a basket of roses yourself.” I gritted my teeth. It felt like hours we were there. Insulting each other through our teeth and holding each other awkwardly. I’m pretty sure Dylan and Kane laughed and high-fived. My mom was suppressing laughter and I’m pretty sure Mr. Agnar was feeling proud of himself.We stood there a little longer. Mr. Agnar told us to pull away finally.

“I need to go puke.” Jean went to the truck.

“I need a chemical bath.” I flopped onto the ground. I saw Dylan was looking at me and smiling. I sighed and smiled back at him. Kane was fiddling with a metal cube now.  He looked up. “I’ll go talk to her.” He winked at me. Didn’t know or care what that meant.

“Get some sleep.” Mr. Agnar told us. I still had questions, but he said, “You can ask questions later.” Was everyone a psychic or was I just easy to read?

***

I had weird dreams that a redheaded Harry Houdini had saved my life from Count Dracula and that Dylan was now a mother named Delilah. I have no clue whether this was symbolic for something or those loopy drugs had really affected me. I woke up sweating and panting. It was dawn. Probably seven in the morning. The campfire was out with wispy blue smoke going up in the air. Mr. Agnar said from behind me, “We need to talk.” I sat up. I was stiff from the world’s most uncomfortable ground to sleep on. I stood up and popped my neck. I stretched and my back popped stoo. I turned around and faced him, “About what?”

“The contract and your task.”

“Oh, joy.”

We walked around and he offered me a muffin. I took it and he began to speak, “Did I tell you what happened to Euthysteus when he signed the contract?”

“No.” I replied with a mouthful of blueberry muffin.

“His soul belonged to which god?”

Is he freaking quizzing me? “Um...Volunteers...?”

“Vulentes. You’ll get the names, don’t worry.” He chuckled, but then went back to his grave-danger-voice, “His soul went to Vulentes. Vulentes is a tricky god. He used Euthysteus’s soul and teamed up with Merideus, mother of the beasts to birth a monster.”

“Wait...like preg-...?”

“Long story, my boy. Quite nasty.”

“Don’t wanna know.”

“Merideus, using Euthysteus’s soul, birthed a powerful monster. More towering than a giant and more powerful than a Titan. Comentus Arias. A rough translation: The Eater of Worlds. Some even called him the Devourer of Heroes.”

I had even more questions. But the primary one was, “Why’re you telling me this.”

Mr. Agnar was silent. Then he sighed. “An ancient evil is stirring in this world. I don’t know what it is, but Comentus Arias, seems to be the primary target. But he dwells in the bottom of Xenatus, reduced to nothing but the fabric of fear and evil itself.”

A cold wind blew. “So...he’s everywhere?” I couldn’t help but shake a little.

“In our deepest fears...the spirit of Arias dwells. Only as a consciousness. I’ve prayed to all the gods that this isn’t the start of something larger. That this would only be a one time thing. But...” He trailed off to his own thoughts.

“But?” I pressed. I had a feeling he was holding back on something. Like he knew what would happen on this task or whatever.

“It’s nothing, little hero.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He smiled. “You remind me of myself when I was younger.”

We walked in silence and then I asked. “Why can’t you come with us?”

He sighed sympathetically, “The gods and the prophecy are quite clear. I am not permitted to interfere during this quest. This is how you prove yourself.”

“Prove myself? Prophecy.”

He cursed in some language that I could barely make out. Something like, Damn the ravens! Didn’t get that, but whatever.

“I’ve said too much. It’s up to you to discover your own destiny.”

And at that our conversation was finished. When we made it to the camp area, my mom was teary eyed. Dylan was packing bags along with Kane and Jean. Mom walked with me to the Nissan. She opened the trunk and there was the sword. She picked it up and handed it to me. I unsheathed it. The blade was slightly worn but good. I sheathed it. “Dad’s?” I asked.,

She nodded. She got something else out of the trunks. It was a worn out, old fashioned journal. Mom spoke in a shaky voice, like she’d cry at any moment, “I-it was your fathers. I never had the heart to read it. M-maybe it’ll help you.” She started bawling and wrapped me up in a hug. I didn’t squirm or go, Mooooooom! I hugged her back. “I’ll be back, Mom. With Kelly and Dylan. Maybe Jean.” That last part was a joke, okay?

She ran her fingers through my hair and looked at me. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying so much in a short time span. “You better”, she sniffled and smiled. She hugged me again and I smiled and hugged back. “I love you, Simon.” She said.

“I love you too, Mom.”

I strapped the sword to my back. I walked over to Mr. Agnar and asked, “What do I do about the sword? People will ask questions.”

“The weapon is enchanted. It’ll appear and disappear at your will.”

I willed the sword to disappear and the weight disappeared from my back. “Awesome.” I would’ve been more excited, but I felt heaviness in my heart. I didn’t want to leave my mom like this. She looked so sad. She packed me a bag full of stuff including the journal. I didn’t bother to check. I didn’t care. Apparently, Jean had stolen the truck to save me and Dylan, so we weren’t aloud to drive to wherever we were going. We walked to the edge of woods. I waved goodbye to Mom, Mr. Agnar, and Kane. The image began to change. The scenery was being sucked back, like paper in a vacuum. Soon we were on a sidewalk in the city. Dylan explained that the place was sort of a sanctuary. To be temporarily used only for a day or so. We would never be able to go back. They’re often destroyed when everyone leaves. I held back tears.

I looked around. Everything seemed normal. I gathered my thoughts of what just happened and said, “Where the heck do we go?”

***